Dare To Love
by WhereIsMyBacon
Summary: “Distasteful?” She repeated what he had said in his face, “you’re just nothing but a spoiled boy who’s too aware of his good looks to get his head far enough out of his own behind and YOU judge ME?”[WizxAco][Oneshot][Edited]


**Dare to Love**

A love story? By Halcyon Clouds

"May I invite you to have a cup of coffee with me tomorrow?"

She stopped dead in her tracks, her thick, wired-framed glasses slid down her small nose as she looked up at him, confused.

She didn't know why men like him were allowed to walk about in broad daylight. But it should be made a federal crime. Seeing men like him reminded her just how messy her hair was (since she only brushed it hastily in the morning with water) and how her teeth weren't as straight as she hope they'd be. Plus her inherited near-sightedness…oh don't even go there.

He stood there with a pleasant expression on his face, waiting patiently for her answer.

He was a tall, fair-skinned wizard with soft grey irises that were currently resting on her with the tenderest look she thought possible for someone like him. She was an acolyte, with messy short blonde hair that fell on top of her shoulders. The most noticeable feature about her was the enormous glasses that covered half her face, making her eyes unusually large.

But the most significant problem was: she had never laid her eyes on the man in her life.

"Erm…have we met before?" She asked tentatively.

"No," The wizard said, and combed a hand casually through his sky-blue coloured bangs. The rest of his hair was tied into a ponytail at the top of his head. "I just thought I'd ask a charming miss acolyte out on a date."

She felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and fought to pull herself together. Her? Charming? This wizard may have killer looks, but he sure was as blind as she is.

"It would give me great pleasure if you would agree." He persisted, ashen eyes never leaving her magnified green ones.

"...Sure then, I guess."

* * *

"Renna, are you serious?" 

During dusk cleaning, one of her acolyte roommates shuffled up to her and asked. Sensing alarm in the voice, the acolyte with glasses, named Renna, looked to her friend, puzzled.

"Rennalyn Tristyr…don't tell me you forgot!" The other acolyte exclaimed and put a hand to her brow dramatically. "The wizard you talked to today!"

"Oh, him…" Renna replied, ignoring her friend's antics. "He just asked me out on a date for some crazy reason and I said yes…are you alright?"

Her acolyte companion was now frantically fanning herself from fainting stage-style.

"That wizard….is Falmoore Findel! Silly girl! THE Falmoore Findel!" She flapped her arms excitedly, completely forgetting that she should be wiping down the church benches. Then she brought her hands together and started counting on her fingers.

"'The Gem of Geffen', last year's Olympus Wizard Dueling Tournament number 1, elected second place for the most desirable man in Midgard through a polling done on the female population by the Rune-Midgard Daily, it is also said he is due to become a high wizard within the next 3 months, making him…"

As she rattled off proofs as to why the wizard was allowed to stand on streets without getting arrested, Renna looked at her with a dazed expression on her bespectacled face.

"And I should care because…?" When the other acolyte had finished talking, Renna gave her usual lethargic and apathetic reply.

"The question being. Why should he. Who has a lot of beautiful women wanting a piece of him. Ask you out. On a date?" The bench-cleaning acolyte laid her argument out clean and short, complete with the corresponding hand gestures.

If it was anyone else, Renna would have taken great offense and holy lighted them in the face. But in this case, she knew it was true. And fishy.

"I don't know… I suppose I'll ask him tomorrow…"

* * *

Renna arrived at exactly 3 o' clock the next day at the edge of a building overlooking the rendezvous point: a quaint little tea and cakes shop with a terrace. The owner apparently had very lavish tastes, setting up a bamboo scaffolding tent stretching across the terrace, and entwined with the long poles were purple morning glories and jade-coloured clusters of grapes. White garden chairs were placed under the flowers and fruit, complete with tables that had dainty carvings under the glass top. It was truly a place fit for someone like him. 

And there he was, sitting at one of the tables and leisurely sipping from a ceramic cup, but he was also actively talking to a few other wizards who seemed to be his friends, laughing at times. And dear Odin did he look good when he laughed.

Renna felt her heart jump to her throat, and she hesitated to appear before them. She had combed her hair carefully today, and did little braids at the side of her face in front of her ears. The acolyte uniform they were required to wear at all times was newly washed and ironed. The only thing that hadn't changed was her glasses, still perching on the bridge of her nose.

She had told herself over and over again that she was only doing this entire appearance thing because she didn't want him to look too bad being with her.

"…can't believe you actually went ahead and did that, Findel!" She heard one of the wizards exclaim while heartily slapping the man in question on the back.

_Did what? _Thought the girl.

"What a marvelous choice!" Snickered another wizard as he formed a circle with his fingers and thumbs on both hands and stuck them to his eyes. "Little miss four-eyes was totally smitten!"

_Are they…talking about……me?_ The acolyte questioned herself, and uncomfortable feeling was welling up inside her. Like someone strangling her from within. It became even worse when the three men laughed collectively and Falmoore nodded, as if it was a matter-of-fact.

"It was my honour at stake." He replied calmly and took a drink from his cup, a small, haughty smile at the edge of his lips. "I wouldn't have feelings for someone so distasteful, but I must say that was a nice dare you came up with, Sacom."

"_Is that so?_"

The blue-haired wizard nodded, but suddenly realized that the voice did not belong to any of his two friends. The three wizards looked up and saw that a blonde-haired acolyte had appeared before them. Her great wire-framed eyes were watery with tears but her expression suggested that she wasn't about to simply be a crybaby.

_Busted._ One of the wizards she didn't know mouthed silently. And the two friends of Falmoore, sensing imminent danger and humiliation, bailed out using fly wings. Only the dashing wizard was left when the acolyte exploded on him.

"Distasteful?" She repeated what he had said in his face, "you're just nothing but a spoiled boy who's too aware of his good looks to get his head far enough out of his own behind and YOU judge ME?"

For the first time in his life, Falmoore was rendered silent as he gawked at the girl sputtering out phrases he never thought he would hear from an acolyte.

"I happen to have these-" she pointed to her round glasses in a way that seemed like she was making a rude hand gesture instead, "-because I didn't want to be blind like the few thousand women who voted for you!"

Renna realized that her glasses were misting up, and she swiped them off with vehemence. Although now she couldn't see anything clearly, as this was especially the case through the tears. She was glad because she didn't want to take another look at that wretched man's face.

"Falmoore Findel, you're the disgusting larva of a thiefbug, and you're not even worth the honour of me looking at you through my 'four eyes'!"

Throwing down the last words, she turned and left the wizard to his speechlessness in the pretty little tea shop.

* * *

A lone priestess was cleaning up in the church after dark. Although the floor hadn't been swept because the acolytes were on a day off, she chose to dust some of the more delicate and easily dirtied pieces of furniture in the church. 

The priestess looked about twenty years old. Golden waves of hair fell down to the center of her back. She had sharp, attentive emerald coloured eyes behind an elegant oval-shaped pair of mini glasses. She was now considered somewhat of a beauty, her glasses were no longer a hindrance to the fairness of her complexion, but an addition to her charisma.

Rennalyn Tristyr was no longer the acolyte with messy hair and unnaturally huge eyes. But a stunningly attractive woman filled with confidence in her every step. Even though she did not believe that being pretty was an important thing, she couldn't help it when nature took its toll and transformed her.

She opened the cover of the grand piano and began to dust the strings carefully when she heard the front gates of the church creak open, and footsteps were heard resonating within the empty building.

"The church is closed. If you're looking for salvation or here to confess your sins, please come back tomorrow morning." She said on conditioned response, her feather duster did not stop their movement inside the piano.

"If that is the case, may I invite you to have a cup of coffee with me tomorrow?"

The duster stopped unexpectedly. In fact, her whole body froze.

That phrase brought up some unpleasant memories that makes her want to strangle something. She turned around slowly and walked to the altar.

"Who…are you?" She asked suspiciously down the central aisle of the hall, which was only dimly lit by the candlelight on the walls. There was someone there, but she couldn't see his face clearly. The person then stepped out of the shadows. He wore a lavishly decorated muffler around his shoulders, and the ends of a dark, batwing-shaped cape with its corners wrapped on his forearms dragged against the marble floor.

The high wizard raised a gloved hand and gave a small wave. His fair eyes reflected every one of the dim lights around him, making them almost naturally orange. Light blue coloured long hair was tied up in a ponytail at the back, but leaving a few stray strands over his eyes that served as bangs.

"Long time no see." He said. Then moved his head to the side and dodged the feather duster that was thrown at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The priestess glared at the wizard fiercely after recognizing him. She certainly wasn't expecting, or wanting, to see him here. It was altogether too surprising to find the man she lashed on a few years ago standing right front of her. Two of them. Alone. In an empty church.

"Sister, I have a confession to make." He said in a casual voice as he slowly walked up the aisle, towards her.

"…What?" Renna backed a step, confused.

"You see…I left Prontera one day a long long time ago." He continued, like telling a fairytale of some faraway land. Not missing a single beat as he took small, leisure steps towards the altar, and her. "And there was this person I couldn't forget."

"However many women I have met, my thoughts would always drift back to her."

The priestess had a half-astonished, half-confused expression on her face as he approached, his gaze locked onto hers.

"Because she saw, and did not hesitate to tell me the truth of who I really am. She was honest with me, when no one else would be."

He was only a few feet in front of her now. She found it unnerving that he did not rush nor hesistate in his journey to the top of the hall.

"And it didn't hurt that she had the most beautiful emerald eyes I have ever seen in my life."

He was right in front of her. Did she forget how to breathe?

"Will you answer my question?" It was almost a whisper when his face leaned closer to hers, and she could feel his breath on her cheek, and the warmth his body exuded.

And then…his lips were on top of hers.

Renna felt like she was being electrified…in a good way, she guessed. The high wizard was a talented kisser, his lips were soft and beckoning as he gently nibbled at her own inexperienced counterparts. At times using his tongue to lightly graze the sensitive skin of her lips, but he did not explore any deeper than that. She couldn't help but wonder, even in the half-conscious state that she was being induced into by his kiss, that how many other women he's done this to before he got to her. But she wasn't in a position to question that. The priestess felt his arms circle around her waist. She jumped a little as his hands connected to her body, spreading heat to her skin through the thin fabric, pulling her closer to him. Soothingly, but firmly, as if to say that he wanted her to be his.

With a jolt, Renna realized what she was doing and pushed the wizard away with a hand, disconnecting his lips from hers. She reluctantly wiped a hand over her mouth, Falmoore seemed hurt when he saw the action.

"I thought," She said after a short silence, "that a part of what I said of you before was that you were too self-assertive! I mean, who gave you permission to do that? That was my first time!"

He smiled with satisfaction, hands still around her waist.

"When I saw those eyes of yours without the horrendous glasses, I knew that I must have the person they belong to." He cooed, cunningly taking advantage of her slight blush to snuggle closer. She pushed him away again.

"So you're just into looks after all…"

"This may seem a bit masochistic," he scratched his head nervously with a hand, "but I liked the way you talked to me. Not many people tend to do that."

She shook her head at him. "You're crazy. I've thought that ever since the first time I saw you."

"I must be." He replied, smiling with a mischievous air. One hand rose up to her to tilt her chin so that she looks straight into his eyes. "Because I've been seeing you whenever I close my eyes everyday for the past years."

She looked away to hid a blush, mortified that he could say such bold things without even flinching. He took hold of her chin again, forcing her to look at him.

"So will you answer my question?"

"What…?" She looked straight into the dazzling grey littered with quivering orange lights.

"May I invite you to have a cup of coffee with me tomorrow? Maybe in a wedding dress?"

"That second part never existed." She replied curtly, mind still clear even when her body was showing some unusual reactions to his advances. She lowered her gaze again, "but I suppose…alright…if it isn't a dare this time."

"Most definitely not." He said, making her look into his eyes for the third time.

"Why do you keep doing that?" The priestess asked, a bit annoyed, it made her more awkward than ever.

"Because I want to have the honour of you looking at me through your 'four eyes'."

She was stunned for a moment, then resisted a chuckle and made to hit him playfully. He let her land a half-hearted blow on his shoulder before he pulled her in even closer for another kiss…

The End

* * *

_-2:32AM, In the office of the author- _

Sal: OMFG IT'S SO CORNY IT BURRRRNNNSS.

Yuresia: MY EYES. YOU KILLED MY EYES.

Sal: IT BUURRRRNNNSSS USSS! MY PRRRREECIOOUS.

Yuresia: -Siphons-


End file.
